Michigan Hockey 17-18, Game #5: Penn State 5, Michigan 4 (OT)

Jack was nimble and was quick, just could not jump over the final…candlestick? (James Coller)

OFFENSE

Corsi

House

Possession %

First Period

22

7

48%

Second Period

16

6

43%

Third Period

25

11

45%

Overtime

0

0

0% (unlikely)

TOTAL

63

24

45%

Analysis: So, watching this…it felt a lot worse. This is results-based charting, however, and this is a very big improvement. I tweeted than Michigan had games of 49 and 39 in Happy Valley last year. Getting 63 attempts with almost 40% of those coming from the House is good, especially against a puck-dominant team. I think Michigan can do fine with numbers like this (the possession isn’t great, though). Penn State has a leaky defense and an inconsistent goalie. Michigan definitely took advantage of both of those things and scored enough to give them a good enough chance to win this game. Marody had a nice snipe, Dancs took his chance well, and others had great opportunities to score. Peyton Jones played well in net for Penn State at times, and at others he was awful. All in all, if you gave me these numbers before the game, I would have taken them happily.

[After THE JUMP: defense, special teams, and odd-man rushes]

DEFENSE

Corsi

House

Possession %

First Period

24

9

52%

Second Period

21

9

57%

Third Period

30

14

55%

Overtime

2

2

100% (lol)

TOTAL

Analysis: Woof. Penn State takes more shots than Allen Iverson. This is a lot, though. Thirty attempts? That’s just so many. And they got close to half of their night’s looks from in the House. On the third period chart, there are 9(!!) marks on or right in front of the crease. That’s just nuts. I thought Michigan’s defense tired as the third period dragged on and they had trouble clearing their zone (no wonder, shots were coming from everywhere), so that lead to some really bad DZTOs. It’s a bit of a wonder that Michigan didn’t give up more goals.

SPECIAL TEAMS

PP For

PP Against

PP Corsi For

PP Corsi Against

PP Shots/Min For

PP Shots/Min Against

First Period

0/1

0/1

0

1

0

1

Second Period

1/1

0/2

4

9

1

3

Third Period

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Overtime

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

TOTAL

1/2

0/3

4

10

.67

2.33

Analysis: Weirdly, special teams went well for Michigan. They had a mini-power play in the first and didn’t record an attempt, but they set up a nice power play in the second and scored on it. Dancs redirected a shot from distance through Jones to give Michigan their second lead. Michigan also managed to kill three power plays from Penn State’s third-ranked 34% power play. Penn State did average over two shots per minute, which is very good. Advice for tomorrow: don’t take any penalties.

GOALTENDING

Shots Faced

Shots from House Faced

First Period

18

6

Second Period

15

6

Third Period

19

10

Overtime

2

2

TOTAL

54

24

Analysis: LOL. Jack LaFontaine was unbelievable. Penn State should/could have scored 7-8 goals easily. He made a handful of point-blank bonkers saves. His positioning was generally very good. The last three goals there was simply nothing he could do at all. He was super unlucky on the first goal. He made the save, it flipped straight up an over him and dropped into the net. I don’t think he saw the second goal. It was from a distance, but he reacted so late –especially given the sheer volume of reactionary saves the rest of the night. Even if the second one was soft, he stole a handful of should-have-been goals. Lavigne is a very good college goalie and he is clearly second-best on this team.

ODD-MAN RUSHES

Rushes

Advantages

Escape %

First Period

0

n/a

n/a

Second Period

1

2v1

100%

Third Period

0

n/a

n/a

Overtime

0

n/a

n/a

TOTAL

1

one 2v1

100%

Analysis: I guess when the puck is generally in your zone you can’t really give up odd-man rushes? haha Anyway, this remains consistent through the games I’ve seen Michigan play. They have been disciplined at the back. The one in the second was Hughes trying to make a play on offense and his shot was blocked and deflected out toward the blue line. He just couldn’t catch up after being caught so deep. JLF made a nice save (surprise!) to bail him out. There were a couple of almost-OMRs, but they never fully developed, so I did not chart them.

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Thank you, blog gods, for bringing back HOCKEY. I missed hearing about good goaltending and advantageous offense. The end of the Red era was tough. It seems like Mel is getting us rolling again but it will take some time. Go blue!

It's tough to follow Michigan hockey from Florida. I listened to the radio broadcast last night, but I'd be lost without coverage like this. Please, keep up the good work — we're counting on you down here.